Heat conserver and humidifier



Jan. 11, 1938. F. M. HILL 2,104,804

HEAT CONSERVER AND HUMIDIFIER Filed June 12, 1956 Patented Jan. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to! a heat conserver and humidifier adapted to be installed as part of a home heating system.

My invention is principally directed to a heat saving device that may be installed between the furnace and chimney of a home heating system in which an oil burner is used as the source of heat in the furnace. It is well known that many oil burning units have been and are now being installed in furnaces that were designed for the! burning of coal and that in such case there is a considerable loss of heat due to the fact that the flue gases pass through the smoke pipe from the furnace to the chimney at a relatively high temperature. Where the furnace is connected to a hot water system considerable time is required to heat the water sufficiently to warm the house and this system is therefore not so efficient in the fall or spring months when it is desired to warm the home quickly.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple and efficient heat conserver and humidifier provided with inlet and outlet connections for installation in the smoke pipe between the 5 furnace and the chimney of the heating system and which is provided with inlet and outlet air passages whereby cold air which is taken into the device is heated by the hot flue gases and is transmitted to the rooms of the home for heating the house.

It is further an object of my invention to provide a device comprising a horizontal casing, the e'nd portions of which are provided with inlet and outlet flue connections, said end portions being rotatably secured to the central portion of the casing whereby said end portions may be turned to the desired positions to accommodate the smoke pipe connections and in which the central casing is provided with a plurality of tubes through which the hot flue gases may pass,

said tubes being free to be readily cleaned by the provision of removable covers at the ends of the casing.

A still further object of my invention resides in the provision of means for humidifying the air which is heated by the device by maintaining a supply of water at the bottom portion of the casing and covering a munber of the tubes through which the hot flue gases pass whereby the water is heated and vaporized to humidify the air which passes over the surface of the water and in the provision of means for controlling the rate of heating and vaporizing the water by 5 controlling the passage of the hot flue gases through the tubes which are covered by the water.

Various additional objects and advantages of my improvements will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device partially shown in broken section;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on the plane in- 10 dicated 2 -2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a. cross-section taken on the plane indicated 3-3 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed section illustrating a modification of the means illustrated in Fig. 3 for 15 controlling the flow of the hot flue gases through the lower tubes.

The casing ll) of the heat exchanger includes a central shell I2 and end shells I l and iii. The shell I2 is fixed to the bronze headers l8 and 20 in which the copper tubes 22 are mounted.

The end shells It and ISare removably attached to the headers l8 and 20 by screws 24 whereby the shells may be rotated to the desired positions for the accommodation of pipe connections to the inlet 26 for the hot flue gases from the furnace chamber and the outlet 28 for the exit of the gases to the chimney.

The end shells are closed by removable covers 30. and 32 held by spring clips 36. The center shell is provided with a cold air inlet 36 which may be a long slotted opening as shown positioned as will be later described with respect to the; water level in the chamber. A single outlet or a plurality of outlets 38 may be used from the top of the device and leading to rooms in the house to be heated.

A supply of water 40 is retained in the device for humidiflcation of the air. A connection 42 from a source of water supply is connected to a tank 44 having a float 46 for controlling a valve 48. The water is delivered from the tank 44 by the piping 40.

It will be noted that the bottom tubes 52 will be covered with water and in some cases it may be desirable to temporarily block off the flow of hot gases through these tubes, so I may provide a. damper 54 rockably mounted in bearings 56 and actuated by a handle 58. In another form of my device I may employ plugs 69 for closing the tubes each of which is operated by rod 62 and handle 64 slidably mounted in one of the covers.

The central shell l2 may have a removable bottom plate 66 secured by screws 68. The plate 66 may therefore be removed to permit cleaning V since scale and sediment may be deposited from the water.

The device is installed by connecting the smoke pipe from the furnace to the inlet 26 which may be turned to a convenient position. The smoke pipe leading to the chimney is similarly connected to the outlet 28. After a connection has been made to the water supply system, the water will flow into the casing until the desired level is attained when the float control will operate to shut off the water. In operation the hot flue gases will. quickly heat the air surrounding the tubes and a draft will be created as the warm air flows upwards out of the casing drawing cold air into the casing. The incoming air will be humidified by the water which will be heated by the hot gases flowing through the lower tubes; If the humidity of the warm air delivered to the house becomes too high it may be reduced by controlling the flow of the hot gases through the lower tube such as by means of a damper or by individual plugs as illustrated. The tubes can be readily cleaned by removing the end covers of the casing and passing cleaning tools through the tubes. The total cross-sectional area of the tubes is intended to be materially greater than the area of the smoke pipe from the furnace which will allow for deposition of soot in the tubes without restricting the flow of the flue gases.

I claim:

1. A heat saving device adapted to be installed in the smoke passage between, the furnace and the chimney of a home heating system comprising a substantially horizontal casing, said casing having headers intermediate the ends thereof, a

plurality of tubes, theends of which are mounted in said headers forming passages for the hot flue gases between the inlet and outlet chambers at the opposite ends of the casing, said casing having a central chamber between the headers and surrounding the tubes, said central chamber having a cold air inlet at the lower side thereof and a warm air outlet at the upper side thereof, the end portions of said casing being provided with radially directed inlet and outlet flue gas connections and means for adjustably securing said end portions to said headers in a plurality of rotative positions to accommodate the connections of the smoke pipe thereto.

2. A heat saving device adapted to be installed in the smoke passage between the furnace and the chimney of a home heating system comprising a.

substantially horizontal casing, said casing having headers intermediate the ends thereof,.a plurality of tubes, the ends of which are mounted in said headers forming passages for the hot flue gases between the inlet and outlet chambers at the opposite ends of the casing, said casing having a central chamber between the headers and surrounding the tubes, said central chamber having a cold air inlet at the lower side thereof and a warm air outlet at the upper side thereof, means for maintaining a supply of water covering a few of. the tubes at the lower portion. of the central chamber and means for controlling the passage of the hot flue gases through said tubes to control the rate of vaporization of the water.

3. A heat saving device adapted to be installed in the smoke passage between the furnace and the chimney of a home heating system comprising a substantially horizontal casing, said casing having headersintermediate the ends thereof, a plurality of tubes, the ends of which are mounted in said headers forming passages for the hot flue gases between the inlet and outlet chambers at the opposite ends of the casing, said casing having,

a central chamber between the headers and surrounding the tubes, said central chamber having a cold air inlet at the lower side thereof and a warm air outlet at the upper side thereof, means for maintaining a supply of water in the central chamber covering. a few of the tubes at the lower portion of said chamber and means controllable from the outside of the casing for preventing passage of the hot flue gases through the tubes. which are covered by the water to control the rate of vaporization of the water.

4. A heat saving device adapted to be installed in the smoke passage betweenthe furnace and the chimney of a home heating system comprising a. substantially horizontal casing, said casing having headers intermediate the ends thereof, a pluralityof tubes, the ends of which are mounted,

in said headers forming passages for the hot flue gases between the inlet and outlet chambers at the opposite ends of the casing, said casinghaving a central chamber between the headers and surrounding the tubes, said central chamber having a cold air inlet at the lower side thereof and a warmair outlet at the upper side thereof, andmeans for maintaining a supply of water in said central chamber covering a plurality of the tubes at the lower portion of said chamber whereby said water is vaporized for humidifying the air which passes through said chamber, said casing having a removable bottom plate for retaining the water supply in the central chamber.

FRANK M. HILL. 

